News Briefs

Feldman Focuses

Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers,
will give up the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers, the
AFT's powerful New York City local, effective February 2. For the past
eight months, Feldman has led both organizations. She is leaving the
UFT job, which she has held for 11 years, to work full time for the
national. "I find that I have so little personal time that I can't
refuel," Feldman said in a letter to UFT members. "I haven't enough
time to think and strategize." Feldman was tapped by the AFT's
executive committee in May to serve out the term of the late Albert
Shanker. Her successor at the UFT will be named this month.

Assigning Blame

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Polk County, Florida,
school district can be held liable for negligence in the suicide of one
of its students. Carol Wyke, the mother of the student, sued the
district claiming it had failed to notify her that her son, Shawn, had
attempted suicide at school before killing himself at home in 1989. The
13-year-old McLaughlin Junior High student had attempted to hang
himself in a school restroom but was talked out of it by another boy,
whose mother later told the dean of students about the incident.
According to court papers, the dean responded by calling Shawn to his
office and reading Bible verse to him, but the official did not notify
the boy's mother. Wyke filed both a federal lawsuit and a negligence
claim under state law ["Casting
Blame," November/December 1994]. A U.S. district judge dismissed
the federal suit, but a jury awarded her $165,000 in damages in the
state case. On appeal, the 11th Circuit Court upheld the judge's
dismissal of the federal case and supported his decision to allow the
state case to go to jury. "We do not believe (and neither did the jury)
that a prudent person would have needed a crystal ball to see that
Shawn needed help and that if he didn't get it soon, he might attempt
suicide again," the appeals panel said in its November ruling.

Teacher Power

In the rough-and-tumble of politics in the nation's capital, the
National Education Association, with its 2.3 million members and fat
war chest, has the muscle to grapple with the strongest competitors.
That, anyway, is the view of 329 lawmakers, White House aides,
lobbyists, and academics polled by Fortune magazine. Based on the
survey, Fortune ranked the NEA as Washington's 9th most
effective lobbying organization. "They're a force day in and day out,"
says Mark Mellman, the Democratic half of the bipartisan polling team
that conducted the survey for the magazine's December 8 issue. The
union's political-action committee distributed $2.3 million to federal
candidates—99 percent to Democrats—in the 1995-96 election
cycle. But money alone doesn't ensure a ranking in the power elite,
according to Mellman. "First in order of importance is the ability to
generate grassroots activities," Mellman says.

Girls And Steroids

With ever more athletic opportunities being dangled in front of
them, growing numbers of high school girls are abusing anabolic
steroids in an effort to build strength and trim fat. A Pennsylvania
State University study published in December in the Archives of
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that as many as 175,000
high school girls—or 1.4 percent of girls in 9th through 12th
grades—have used steroids at least once in their lives, up from
0.4 percent in 1991. The report attributes the rise to several factors,
including growing participation by girls in competitive sports, greater
competition for athletic scholarships, and expanded Olympic and
professional opportunities for female athletes. The study also says
that many women see steroids as a way to get a lean, muscular "hard
body." But anabolic steroids—synthetic steroid hormones that help
the growth of muscle and other tissue—can cause serious side
effects, the report says, including cardiovascular disease, liver
problems, and reproductive dysfunction. Women who use steroids can
experience breast shrinkage, male hair growth, a deepening voice, and
menstrual abnormalities. "People—coaches, parents, and the
athletes themselves—are turning a blind eye to the effects that
these drugs can have," says Charles Yesalis, lead author of the study.
"We have 175,000 girls putting the primary male sex
hormone—testosterone—into their bodies. That should sound
the alarm."

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